Young People in Kent, including members of Kent’s Children in Care Councils, wrote and agreed the six Youth Charter principles. They worked together to think about what behaviours are needed for successful participation, what these mean to young people and the best ways for practitioners to engage with young people.
They now want all services working with young people in Kent to adopt the Youth Charter.
The Principles of the Kent Youth Charter
Young people, including those in care, should expect that all staff and volunteers will:
Respect you and be kind
- Find out about you, from you.
- Be relaxed with open body language.
- Help you to feel welcome.
Include you and accept you
- Accept everyone’s differences and individuality.
- Be a place that you want to come.
- Find out and act upon your needs.
Listen, understand and act upon what you say
- Make enough time for you.
- Give you opportunities to share your views.
- If we say we’re going do something, we will do it, and show you the outcomes.
Be honest and work to build your trust
- We will be clear about our intentions.
- We will be honest about what we’re going to do.
- We will work to build a trusting relationship with you.
Support you to grow and learn from your experience
- Staff are trained to work with young people.
- Staff understand the community and know where to seek help.
- Staff have knowledge of what opportunities are available to you.
Let you lead and make decisions
- Give you a voice about the things that affect you.
- Ensure you understand your right to make choices.
- Help you feel valued by listening to your views and opinions to make decisions together.
posted by Mark Butcher